Derdian
Proud To Be Independent

10.09.2025

Italy’s Derdian has been a familiar name to Russian fans of symphonic and power metal since 2007, when their second album, “New Era Pt.2 – War Of The Gods”, was released locally on a license from Magna Carta Records. As time went by, the band parted ways with Magna Carta, went through quite a few line-up changes, dropped its fantasy concept, then went back to it with their latest album – more than enough things to discuss in a good interview. But when Derdian bravely announced shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg (the later was unfortunately cancelled, but the Moscow gig is still on at Club Urban on September 13), it became a must for us to present more detailed information on the band to our readers. Guitarist Enrico Pistolese and singer Ivan Gianinni (whom you might also know via The 7th Guild and Vision Divine) agreed to answer my questions, and even though this interview started with a barrage of technical issues (Google Meet started to have “problems” in Russia exactly the day before – unbeknownst to any of us), the gentlemen kindly waited online until I finally found a way to get through to them…

How did it happen that now for the first time in almost 30 years Derdian are playing in Russia? What are your expectations from the show?

Enrico: They told us that Russian people are very hot at metal concerts. And we are so happy to be there playing because we are hot too. (laughs) To answer your question how it happened – we got to know via Instagram a fine singer in Russia, she’s called Anna KiaRa. She will open for us in Moscow, and she will also have a part in one of our songs, “I Don’t Wanna Die”, that is in our setlist. She introduced us to the booking agency that hired us for Russia, and that’s it. 

Let’s speak about your latest album, “New Era Pt. 4”, which came out two years ago, but I assume that you’re still touring in support of it. Why did you decide to revive the concept of “New Era” that you had in the very beginning of your discography after so many years?

Ivan: When I joined the band, the band had already decided to write songs about real life, real situations, so we recorded “Limbo” (2013), which is about real life. Then – maybe because I’m a passionate reader of science fiction, we decided writing about some science fiction things. “Human Reset” (2014) and “DNA” (2018) are basically science fiction concept albums, though they are connected to real life. For example, “Huma Reset” is about Planet Earth being destroyed by aliens because we are shitty people. (everybody laughs) “DNA” is something similar. We perceived the need of our followers to have again something epic with fantasy themes, so we decided to keep writing about the saga of Derdian and Golstar. “New Era Pt. 4” is connected to the first three albums as far as the story is concerned. Personally I felt the need to sing about something lighter than the society, wars and politics, something not connected to the reality. 

Enrico: I felt the same. Reality is too shitty to continue speaking about it. (laughs) 

That’s something I totally understand! (everybody laughs)

Ivan: When you write fantasy lyrics, from the point of view of a singer like me, it’s easier to be more narrative, it’s easier to act, to pretend to be a character from a story. While when you sing about the society and real stuff, I think you have to be more of yourself, you have to be clearer, less theatrical. These days I prefer to sing fantasy stuff because I can be more narrative, it’s like being a poet on the stage - reading poetry, emphasizing words, emphasizing feelings in lyrics. I can emphasize some aspects of the lyrics more, and that’s what I want now.

How do you work on albums? Do you have a concept first and then write music and lyrics for it, or do you start with writing some music and then see what kind of concept it may fit?

Enrico: When we do fantasy stuff, we begin with writing the story, the saga, because the story does not depend so much on the music on the first pass. Then we begin to write music, and lyrics come in consequence of it. It’s just important to have an idea what the story narrates about, then comes music, and then lyrics follow what we already wrote before.

Ivan: We write music to fit the atmosphere of the story. Enrico writes the story, the concept, and divides it in chapters, and then we start thinking, “What kind of music score would we like to listen while reading these different chapters? Chapter 1 has an aggressive topic, so we will play a fast song. Let’s write a speed metal song”.

Enrico: Another chapter needs to be sad, for example, so maybe it’s a case to write a ballad. There are different atmospheres based on what you’re writing about. 

Ivan: For the chapter where the main character is an evil one, we decide to write a song with some aggressive chord progressions, some dissonances, and if the main character is a girl, I think about using something softer. The theme comes first. 

Derdian have been releasing albums independently for more than 10 years. Are you satisfied with their sales? Have you been approached by any labels, and would you consider signing with any labels? Or are you fine with doing everything on your own?

Ivan: Totally!

Enrico: We are not just satisfied, we are PROUD! (everybody laughs) When you are free to express yourself without any chains, your music is true, it has no limitations. You can do anything you want. You just need to learn how to promote yourself, to promote your band, to promote albums little by little. It just takes a little study about how you can do it. I think it will be a really good choice for all bands around the world, considering what labels have become today. You know what I mean – a label today is very different from what it was in the 80s, for example, because a label today doesn’t invest in bands. It’s just a service company, so a band needs to pay for everything to the label. “Do you wanna play, guys, do you wanna do a live show? OK, the cost is this. Do you want to record an album? OK, then you will just keep 5 or 10 percent of your royalties. Then you will also pay for promotion, you will pay for this and that”. I don’t think it’s a good deal to go under a label today.

Ivan: The fun thing is that a lot of labels that refused to listen to our music in the past are coming back now and saying, “Derdian are becoming bigger and bigger! You are a very interesting band! What about signing to us?” (laughs) If a label really has an interest in Derdian, it’s them who have to pay, not us! If they have nothing for me, no way! 

Enrico: The only way we collaborate with labels today is we sell licenses to our albums. This way we made friends with Japan’s King Records, they are really different from the other labels, and we have always been like brothers to each other. We trust them deeply. And we have just signed an agreement with Russia’s FONO Ltd. to produce our last three albums, so Russian people will have a chance to buy our CD in Russia soon. It’s the only way to collaborate for us.

Ivan: Yes, distribution is very useful, but we don’t wanna give our royalties away to someone who doesn’t care about us, people that have thousands of bands and exploit musicians for their own profit. Our profit is just for us, and we are totally free to invest it into our new music.

Can you say a few words about the Spanish and the Japanese songs on the album “DNA”? How did you write those songs? Does anybody in the band speak all these languages? 

Ivan: Like any musician nowadays, we know a lot of people around the world. For the Spanish version, I asked a good friend from Paraguay, he’s a metalhead, and we - me and Pablo – wrote music together. I wanted to have the Spanish version of a song for the Latin people because they have been supporting Derdian since the beginning, so I think they deserve a special song. I called my friend Pablo, “Pablo, help me write a lyric in Spanish”. And the same goes for Japan. We have a lot of good friends in Japan, so I asked a friend, “Help me! I wanna sing a song for you the Japanese”. That’s the way it happened. Personally I like to sing in different languages, I would like to have more chances to sing in other languages. I think it will help keep connections with our followers, it’s just a little gift we can give our followers. Maybe in the future we will ask you to help us write something in Russian, if you want. (everything laughs) 

Well, I’m not very good at poetry, but I would love to try!

Both: Why not? Let’s see.

A couple of months ago you released a cover version of “The Gods Made Heavy Metal” by Manowar. It appears to be the first ever cover version recorded by Derdian. Why did you choose this particular track, and why now, 27 years into your career?

Enrico: Manowar were one of our main influences in the beginning, when we were just kids. It was like paying a tribute to the band that influenced so much our initial style of music. At least it was for me, I don’t know if the others agree.

Ivan: I agree with Enrico, because I used to sing a lot of Manowar when I was a kid.

Enrico: Yeah, you used to have a Manowar tribute band.

Ivan: I used to sing in a Manowar tribute band. Personally and honestly, I wouldn’t have chosen “The Gods Made Heavy Metal”, because it’s not my favorite Manowar song. But I love how we arranged the song in the Derdian way and the way Enrico’s backing vocals made the song sound like Derdian. I’m really happy. I don’t wanna be arrogant, but I really love the Derdian version. “The Gods Made Heavy Metal” is not one of my favorite Manowar songs, and I prefer the Derdian version. This may sound arrogant, but it’s just a matter of taste. I don’t mean we are better, no, but I think our version is a little bit fresher. Personally I would like to sing “Battle Hymn” or “Hail And Kill”, maybe one day, but “The Gods Made Heavy Metal” is a good version.

You have a new keyboard player, Stefano Nusperli, who joined this year. How did he get a job with Derdian? And what happened to the previous keyboard player, Marco Garau? He was in the band for about 20 years…

Ivan: I met Stefano for the first time at my first or second gig with Vision Divine. He came to the venue, and we got to know each other. He gave me a CD or his band and I appreciated his singing and his keyboard playing. When Derdian found itself in need of a new keyboard player, I immediately thought about him - basically for three reasons. First, he’s a good keyboard player. Second, he’s a good singer, so we can add a new voice to our music. In Derdian, the lead vocalist is me, then we have Enrico with big hungry backing vocals, and sometimes Dario (Radaelli), the solo guitarist, sings too. I think a new fresh voice could improve Derdian’s music…

Enrico: Especially at our shows. We don’t use backing tracks, so it’s important to have big choirs at our shows, and with Stefano we’re able to do that.

Ivan: Stefano is a great singer, a great keyboard player, and last but not least, he’s a good looking guy. Speaking about our female followers, he’s a very handsome boy. (everybody laughs) With him, I think, the image of Derdian has improved. I don’t mean that Marco is ugly, definitely not, he’s a good looking boy, but Stefano is like an angel between demons, and it’s an interesting contrast. As to what happened with Marco, Enrico will tell you.

Enrico: Nothing particular, Roman. Marco was tired to go on with the band, he just wanted to go on with his solo project, Magic Opera. After so many years together it’s a normal thing, it could happen that somebody is too tired to go on with a band. Staying in a band often means making compromises with other people, and when you become older, sometimes you’re not so happy to do that. I think it’s normal in many cases. However we are in good relations with Marco, we sometimes talk, and it’s been a good split between Derdian and him. 

Enrico, can you tell us a few words about your second band Sick Society? Why do you need another band apart from Derdian?

Enrico: Sick Society is a band born out of a need of mine and our old drummer (Salvatore Giordano) to do something different from Derdian. We always had the passion for thrash metal, and one day we talked, “Why don’t we form a new band and play thrash metal? Yes, it could be a good idea”. Sick Society was born this way, but in the meantime it became something different. We added more influences – punk, rock’n’roll, The Beatles (laughs), and became something very strange. We have just recorded a new album and we are beginning to promote it. Meanwhile, we have lost Salvatore, the drummer, and we are looking for another one. He has a family, he has a son, and he has no time to go on with Sick Society too, just as it happened with Derdian two years ago. We are a little bit busy looking for a new drummer and promoting the new album. And in the beginning it was just the need to do something different, to explore more styles of heavy metal. 

Ivan, you probably know that your first name is very popular in Russia. Do you have any Russian connections in your family?

Ivan: It is a long story. Let’s start with the meaning of Ivan. In Italian Ivan is Giovanni. One of my grandfathers was Giovanni, but my mother didn’t want me to have the same name as my grandfather. So they decided to call me Ivan in respect for my grandfather – the same name, but in a different language. Actually I have three names – Ivan Giancarlo, these are the names of my grandfathers. All in all, I was given the name Ivan in respect for my grandfather, but my mother didn’t have a good relationship with him, so she changed it to a different language. It was a really uncommon name in Italy when I was a kid, and I was really proud of my Russian name. Actually I am still proud of it, I think it’s the right name for my face. (laughs) 

One more question for Ivan – what happened between you and Vision Divine? Why are you no longer in that band?

Ivan: (pause) It’s not easy to answer. Well, I can say that in the last two years the relationship within the band became toxic. I mean the relationship between band members, not me. The direction of the band wasn’t clear, and the interests of some of the Vision Divine members weren’t clear. I would like to write more songs, I would like to do more shows, but the band was standing still. And the atmosphere in the band was for me personally like walking through a swamp down to my neck in mud. It was like swimming in a mud pool, and it was hard psychologically. Nobody was happy, and I started suffering from being with them. So I decided to leave, because every time I was with them, I was feeling anguish, and it was really heavy mentally to stay. I left for my sanity. It was always a heavy atmosphere, and it’s not my way of staying with people. And I didn’t earn anything with them, it wasn’t my main job, so I felt free to leave them. 

I have just one more question for both of you. It’s been two years since “Part IV”. When can we expect a new Derdian album?

Enrico: I think the end of 2026 would be great. What do you think Ivan?

Ivan: I hope it’s gonna be before the end of 2026. We have already written 10 new songs. 

Enrico: We just need to arrange them, but almost all the songs are there. The first thing we would like to do now is to complete our live DVD. This is our goal at the moment, because it’s been in the works for years. 

Ivan: We have yet to do a lot of video editing, and everything is self-produced, so we need to find time to do it. But the first thing in our plans is the publication of this live DVD. 

Enrico: This way we will be able to end this chapter and free our minds for new songs, the new album and what is going to come. I think it’s a good manner to go on – just finish what you have had before and go on with new ideas and new things, generally in life, not just in music.

Ivan: For you, not for me. I start a lot of projects, and I try to run them in parallel. (laughs)

Enrico: Yes, Ivan is different.

Ivan: But we have already finished ten songs. “Finished” means that we have the main vocals, the guitar and some rhythm, we have yet to arrange them. But the core of the new album is ready, and the story has been completed months ago. We already have some lyrics. Yeah, I think we are halfway to the new album. But the first half has been very easy, the hard part will come in two months, because recording is hard, it’s a long process – to record, to listen to the recordings, to choose the sound, to change arrangements… Maybe the album will be ready mid-2026, and then we will start its promotion for the autumn 2026 release. 

Derdian on the Internet: https://www.derdian.com/site/

Interview by Roman Patrashov
Photos courtesy of Derdian
September 3, 2025
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